Merry Christmas!!

By the time you're reading this I'm probably in my parents home, with my little family, and my brother and sister and her husband. Today we're exchanging gifts, relaxing, playing games, preparing and eating Christmas Supper (my Mom and Dad are AMAZING at holiday meals. . .and all meals, in fact!), and remembering Christ's birth and sacrifice.

Merry Christmas all! May you be filled with awe and true joy at the realization of Christ's coming and works.

Love - Vanessa

Mary Did You Know
written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that youve delivered will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little boy youve kissed the face of God

Mary, did you know?
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
And the dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the lamb
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Did you know that your baby boy will one day rules the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heavens perfect lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM

God is my Portion: Meditations

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep

to gain that which he cannot lose.
- Jim Elliot

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
- Be Thou My Vision, an Ancient Irish Hymn

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- Psalm 73:25, 26

Heaven itself could not make us happy without the presence and love of our God. The world and all its glory vanishes. The body will fail by sickness, age, and death; when the flesh fails, the conduct, courage, and comfort fail. But Christ Jesus, our Lord, offers to be all in all to every poor sinner, who renounces all otherportions and confidences.
- Matthew Henry

Remember our Missionaries

I've been thinking alot this Christmas season about Sacrifice. Specifically Christ's sacrifice in coming to earth.

As we prepare to celebrate many times over with our friends and families, I've also been thinking about our missionary friends who are sacrificing their extended families in Canada/USA for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Below is an email I sent to my missionary friends recently.
________________________________________________________________________
To my Brothers and Sisters in Sudan,

What I've been thinking:

He left behind Glory
You left behind the praise of the world and pursued God's Kingdom in a bush in Africa.

He left behind comfort
You left the familiarity of the places, people and culture you know. You left behind the wealth, the medical care, the abundance, the seemingly secure.

He left behind His Father
You left behind family. Your parents are missing your children grow up. You are missing family celebrations and meals. You are trusting God to care for and provide for your loved ones in your absence.

He left it all behind for the Glory of His Father and His love for us
And so you have left it all behind for His Glory also, your love for Him, and your love for His people.

This Christmas I've been meditating on Christ's sacrifice of leaving Heaven to come to earth. He left the glorious for the base. And all I must to is leave the base for the Glory. Thank you for helping me to understand Christ's sacrifice for me. Thank you encouraging me to be a living sacrifice for my God.

_________________________________________________________

Maybe we could take time to pray for those in ministry at home, and abroad, who sacrifice so much for God's Kingdom and Glory.